Whether natural or constructed, the world's skylines are changing

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Vanishing? An iceberg that broke from the Jacobshavn glacier floated in the water off Greenland. The berg illustrates how fast the glacial ice is melting in the Arctic and the potential for rising sea levels. Konrad Steffen/Colorad University, Boulder/MCT/NEWSCOM

Power of the earth: People looked at devastated Beichuan County in southwest China's Sichuan province on June 10. The 7.8-magnitude quake had rocked the region in May, killing thousands. As many as 80 percent of the buildings in a single county have faced irreparable damage. Researchers have since analyzed the dynamics of the May quake and believe that the geological stress has significantly increased at three major fault points in the region. The May 12 event doubled the probabilities of future quakes from faults such as the San Andreas, Xianshuihe, Kunlun, and Min Jiang faults. Kota Kyoguku/Kyodo News/AP

A second house: The New York Yankees are creating a new ballpark directly next door to Yankee Stadium, the 'house that Ruth built.' The 2008 season is the last season in the original stadium, 2009 will open up in the new Yankee Stadium against the Cleveland Indians. The architecture of the new venue was design to match its South Bronx neighbor, preserving aspects of the original design. Mark Lennihan/AP

Rise again? The view of what once was the Jewish area of Baghdad shows signs of damage and broken buildings reflective of the destruction from war. As conditions on the ground improve, the US is gradually giving regions of Iraq over to Iraqi military control. As the nation tries to maintain peace and stability, they will also try to rebuild neighborhoods and landmarks. Karim Kadim/AP

Lesson learned? Hurricane Katrina ripped through New Orleans in the fall of 2005, destroying homes, breaking levees, flooding 80 percent of the city, leaving tens of thousands clinging to rooftops, and displacing hundreds to shelters around the country. Areas such as this fishing community on Lake Catherine are rebuilding, shown here two years after the storm struck. Homes are being built on stilts in case of future flooding. As hurricane Gustav threatened the city again on the eve of the third anniversary this past August, New Orleans had spend billions of dollars improving its levee system and floodwalls across the city. Nicole Hill/The Christian Science Monitor/FILE

Olympic development: The National Stadium, also know as the Bird's Nest, was lit up at night. To prepare for the Summer Beijing 2008 Olympics, many new and unique looking buildings were constructed in Beijing, changing the look of the city. Others including the National Aquatics Center, the Water Cube, the Laoshan Velodrome, and the Beijing Olympic Green Tennis Court among others were designed with sustainability in mind. The Bird's Nest can gather rainwater needed to run the facility. China Daily/Reuters

Urge to Burj: The Burj Dubai tower in Dubai reached a new record heigh of 688 meters on Sept. 1, 2008. Construction started in 2004, and at the moment it is the tallest structure in the world. The final height of the Burj upon completion is being kept under wraps, as other projects are competing to be the highest building. Reuters

Fresh breeze: Japan is competing in its own highest tower race, building the Sumida tower for broadcasting, which, when completed in 2009, will be the tallest. But Japan's wind turbine farms, some that tower over the coastlines, such as this one on the tip of the main island of Honshu, are among Japan's efforts to shift away from fossil fuels and amend its status as one of the world's biggest emitters of greenhouse gases. Kazuhiro NOGI/AFP/NEWSCOM

Artsy addtions: Visitors rowed on an artificial lake on display at the 'Psycho Bulidings' exhibition at the Hayward Gallery in London. The exhibition brought together the work of artists around the world who create habitat-like structures. In the background is the London Eye, also called the Millennium Wheel, Europe's tallest Ferris wheel and London's newest landmark, completed in 1999. Sang Tan/AP

Shifting lands: When the massive earthquake struck the Sichuan province in China in May 2008, it not only damaged towns and cities, but changed the landscape of the region. A massive landslide formed a new lake near Beichuan county, named Tanjiashan. The earthquake-induced lake is at risk of bursting and threatening thousands of people and homes downstream. Zhu Wei/Xinhua/Reuters

The long and winding pipeline: Oil transit and other pipelines ran from one of BP's facilities at the Prudhoe Bay oil field on Alaska's North Slope. The Trans Alaska Pipeline System is over 800 miles long and crosses three mountain ranges. As the US investigates options to reduce foreign oil dependency, Alaska may literally have more drilling on its horizon as a debate on whether to lift a ban on offshore drilling and drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge rages. Al Grillo/AP

So great they named it twice: As the nation marked the seventh anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, New York, New York's Ground Zero is under construction. The fall of the Twin Towers changed one of the world's most famous city skylines. Construciton of the Freedom Tower at Ground Zero has been moving slowly and is estimated to be done by 2012. Joel Woolhead/Sipa Press/NEWSCOM

As Venezuelan politicians prepare for long-delayed gubernatorial elections, some opposition members have argued that their participation would validate the increasingly undemocratic government. But memories of a backfiring boycott in 2005 have hung over the decision.

Since April, Venezuela’s opposition coalition seemed to be gaining the kind of support and momentum it was long criticized for lacking. Its calls for peaceful protests and boycotts were met by a broad, consistent turnout, and an unofficial referendum it organized in July led more than 7 million Venezuelans at home and abroad to condemn the increasingly authoritarian moves of President Nicolás Maduro’s government.